Monday, December 2, 2013

State of the Universe Address (Including Spoiler!)

So, as promised, and only a day late, the next blog post/installment in the never-ending (but rarely updated) look into my exploration of the Guild Files and Grand Granger universes.

For the record, as soon as I come up with a better title for the Grand Granger universe I'll stop calling it that.  But in the meantime...  Meh.

So, where do things stand?  I'm almost done with the rough draft of the next Guild Files story.  While this one isn't a sequel to Subject 12, it does tie directly into the Subject 12 story and introduces a character or two that will have roles in Rogue.  I've had some feedback on the story and I think the majority if you will enjoy it, especially if you enjoyed Banshee.

**Spoiler Alert**

No, Banshee doesn't make an appearance.

**End Spoiler Alert**

Now then, how is Rogue coming along?  Slowly.  Writing for the Hammer character is difficult, especially with the bar I felt I set with Subject 12.  This does not mean progress is stalled, just that it's taking a lot longer than even I'm comfortable with.

Where have I been?  Busy.  Summer is a very busy time for me lately.  I have commitments, relationships, and a yard full of poultry that I have to take care of before I can write.  Chickens, geese, and ducks can look after themselves pretty well for the most part, needing little in the way of care other than feeding and watering, but I had problems this year.  When I say problems, I probably should spell it with a capital P.  I had predators that killed half my new birds all in one night, disease issues that claimed the lives of almost twenty ducks and geese, and a sharp learning curve in why I will never do business with a particular hatchery again when it comes to geese.

For those of you that don't know, geese are incredibly expensive if you don't buy random assortments on special.  Losing two birds can easily cost over $100 US.  I lost six, though one of them strangled herself in the powered-down electro-netting I use to keep the predators at bay during the summer.

Just of late, I've had major relationship issues basically non-stop for the last month, and more minor ones (but still issues) for months before that.  Unfortunately, it's very hard for me to be creative when all my free time is taken up dealing with people problems.  Even more so when I'm feeling incredibly depressed.

This blog isn't about my personal problems, so I won't go into too much detail.  I will, however, share that I was diagnosed many years ago with both low-grade manic-depressive and major depressive disorders.  I've been lucky in one sense:  I found a medication a few years ago that has prevented me from having a major depressive episode for several years now.  But between depression's cyclic nature and the unbelievable amount of personal stress I've been under for the last few weeks, I've spent the last month in a hole.  Needless to say, that's slowed progress on everything even further.

So, what progress have I made?  With any luck you'll be able to see shortly after the new year.  That begs another question, however.  Even rolling Banshee into the new piece I've almost finished, it won't be exceptionally long.  With that in mind, I have a few options.  I could delay release a while longer and write at least one more short story to include in the release, or I could publish as-is and then release an updated version of it with more content in (hopefully) a few weeks time.  I've kept you guys and gals waiting for so long with nothing more than typo corrections, Banshee, and for some of you The Grand Granger to satisfy your cravings, so the choice for me is a tough one.  I'm leaning more in the early release direction, to be honest, but things may change.  I don't want people to feel cheated, and I don't want to spend another $35 to copyright the piece twice.  I will update you before I make a final decision.

Finally, in my last post I offered to answer any question posed to me (within reason), but I didn't get any questions asked.  As such, I can't tender any answers.  Instead, I'll offer up a tidbit that I think you've already figured out.  I have a hard time coming up with titles for anything I write, be it a book, story, or blog post.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Stay Tuned Sounds So Derivative, Doesn't It?

So, instead of saying "stay tuned" for some news, I'll just say that I'll be answering reader questions (of which I've received none) and addressing the long silence since my last post.

I promise this post will be soon, my intention being within the next 72 hours, though the impending holiday and seriously crummy weather may force a delay of up to another 72 hours.  With that in mind I can't make any guarantees.

So why post this saying I'm going to post soon with some news?  I haven't posted anything since my bout with and recovery from pneumonia earlier this year, that's why.  I'm still alive, and yes, I have been working when I've had time.  So, if you have any questions you want answered, drop me a line here or on Twitter and I'll do my best to answer without spoilers.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Pneumonia Sucks.

Alright, so, I'm at week 4 of recovery from pneumonia.  So far, so good, but it took me a week of getting sick and three weeks of recovery to get to where I'm able to function mostly normally.

Still get out of breath easily, though, so it's going to be a while before I'm approaching 100% again.  How sick was I?

Last Monday was the first day I could sit at a computer for more than 5 minutes without needing to go lay down or passing out.  Yeah, I was bad.  I was on bed rest for a week and shotgunned almost the entire run of Burn Notice on my Roku.  Even if it does seem a little long in the tooth, plot-wise, at the 81st episode mark, (and perhaps a little repetitive at times) I recommend it.  For the record, Roku or Netflix needs to fix the applet on the Roku HD, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm picking up my laptop again and trying to get back to work, but it's been so long I've lost momentum as well as time -- but I refuse to give up even if I have been coughing up blood.

Thanks for reading!  I really hope to have something for you guys soon.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Status Update

I'm alive, healthy enough, and actually getting a little work done.  I've managed to advance Rogue past some of the sticking points I was stymied on for almost two years (yeah, that's a long time) and I've had some nice ideas to fill in some of the gaps that I'd been struggling with during that time.

To give an idea of the situation, I'm almost done with the first draft of the first chapter.  I refuse to give even a ballpark guess of when I'll be done because life seems to get in the way whenever I do.

Guild Files: Reagent Protocol is on hold for the moment.  I wrote myself into a corner and I don't see a way out of it without losing about 20% of the story.  I'm currently weighing options.  The good news, as it were, is that the pause in GF:RP is what allowed me to return to Rogue, and I know that's what nearly all of you reading this are most interested in.  However, I haven't given up and will probably be back to it soon.  Probably.  I do have another short story to write after the novella I've been banging away on for months is done.

The followup to The Grand Granger has been started and I'll peck away at it as I feel the need, unless I feel the project is too ambitious in which case I'll trash it and start on something else.  The Confederation, Empire, and Church aren't done with each other yet, I assure you.

I started a story a couple years ago I tentatively called Hellhounds.  I've been feeling the need to get back to it, though perhaps with a slightly different take on it.  Originally I'd intended it to have some serious religious and spiritual overtones that were central to the story, but that would have made it too heavy a read, so I'm going to tone those down and go in a slightly different direction.  More on that as it develops, but I will say it's about the ghost of a dead guy, will involve supernatural artifacts, angels, demons, zombie taxi drivers, and some really nasty bad guys.

I was intending this blog post to be done a month ago, but I'd also intended it to involve me answering questions from you guys and gals.  Since I received none, I couldn't answer any, so I'll save that for next time (which will be sooner than 3 months) if I get any by then.

Just to prime the pump -- pick one character from the book and tell me who you think would be best to act the role in a movie and why.  Leave a comment to that effect or hit me up on Twitter.  All suggestions, no matter the source, will be posted here.  I have my own ideas, of course, but the one I'll share is this:

Hypnotico, as portrayed by David Hyde Pierce, would be fantastic.  He's a talented actor whose native intelligence would be a boon to the role.  His build fits my description of the character very well, and his experience playing a psychiatrist on Frasier would be very helpful.

Oh, and if any of you are wondering, no, I haven't heard any more from the agency that contacted me back in November, and yes, I have given up almost all hope that I ever will.  Maybe if I can get more in the Guild Files series written I can get more attention.  A guy can dream, can't he?

Thanks for reading!  Be sure to tell your friends and family to pick up a copy!